Preparation and characterization of aluminum coatings via electroless plating onto nickel nanowires using ionic liquid plating solution

Electroless deposition of aluminum using room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL) and liquid reducing agents is extremely water sensitive and has only been successful in glove boxes with deposition on copper or glass substrates. We have successfully brought the deposition out of the glove box using Schlenk techniques. We also have reported the first electroless aluminum deposition onto a nickel nanowire substrate. The nanowire synthesis and subsequent aluminum deposition were confirmed with measurements of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), and a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer. Aluminum plating reached a deposition rate of 1.14 × 10−4 mol/hr. Results indicate a smooth and pure aluminum coating with thin surface oxidation on the nanowires.